We have known for many decades that smoking tobacco kills. In fact, in Australia alone it kills around 15,000 people per year! This, along with hospital and health costs for smoking-related illnesses, means that it is one of the biggest killers in this country, and it is entirely preventable. Laws and regulations around tobacco products and smoking have put a damper on the profits of big tobacco companies, but the activity still remains popular on a global scale.
Methods to Quit Smoking
The backlash against smoking and the health-related effects of smoking has created a huge anti-smoking industry, with hotlines, nicotine gum and nicotine patches all designed to help the addicted smoker quit the activity. Being addictive, nicotine in the form of regular tobacco products is very difficult to give up, and even with the regular use of things like nicotine patches, smokers tend to relapse before finding another avenue to quitting altogether.
The Role of Electronic Cigarettes
Vaping and electronic cigarettes have a strong role to play in the struggle to give up smoking regular tobacco products. Where cigarettes contain nicotine and a chemical cocktail of 599 other substances, including nasties like arsenic, ammonia, formaldehyde, tar, DDT and hydrogen cyanide, electronic cigarettes simply vaporise a flavoured liquid substance where nicotine can be added at will. This level of nicotine control bodes well for the addicted smoker because it allows them the opportunity to wean themselves off nicotine altogether and quit smoking tobacco products entirely.
Electronic cigarettes have been growing in popularity in Australia in the last few years, and more and more smokers have seen it as a way to wean themselves off of tobacco products, or to at least reduce their dependence on nicotine. By taking up vaping and electronic cigarette smoking, traditional smokers stand to gain the following advantages:
- Less dependence on nicotine: Even though nicotine can be added independently to flavoured e-liquids, this also means that the level of an individual’s nicotine intake can be regulated.
- Cleaner and more pleasant: The flavoured liquids made by an electronic cigarette company smell better when they are vaporised. They do not have the lingering stench of tobacco smoke and the vapour tends to dissipate fairly quickly without leaving smells in fabrics.
- Huge variety: Because the electronic cigarette and vaping industry has grown so rapidly in recent years, the variety of flavoured e-liquids on offer from vendors is absolutely staggering. A dedicated vaper can choose from a selection of liquids, including everything from apple orchard to regular menthol.
- Legal: One of the biggest reasons for regular smokers to move to electronic cigarettes is because it is currently legal to vape in public areas! Private areas are still subject to the terms and conditions of management and owners, but the fact that one can vape in public is likely of great interest to many smokers who have found themselves on the sharp end of anti-smoking laws and bans.
